To Address Air Quality And Traffic Congestion, Solitude Mountain Resort To Charge For Parking

In an effort to address parking and traffic issues in Big Cottonwood Canyon, as well as an attempt to improve air quality in Salt Lake County, Solitude Mountain Resort is going to start charging for parking for the 2019/2020 skiing/riding season.The hope is that the parking fees and the way in which they are charged are going to encourage visitors and guests to carpool to the mountain or to use mass transit.“We are using every tool at our disposal to encourage our staff and guests to use public transportation and to develop carpooling habits,” says Solitude’s President & COO Kim Mayhew. “We are committed to reducing congestion in Big Cottonwood Canyon in order to preserve our canyon’s delicate environment.”

“Last winter was one for the record books, but there was some frustration around the number of cars on the road. We can leverage technology to cultivate a habit of carpooling and make public transportation more feasible. Our goal is to maximize the space we have and get everyone to the slopes safely and without delay.”One of the tools the mountain is using is the implementation of parking fees, starting as low as $5 a day for multi-occupancy vehicles. Tiered pricing and preferential parking will be offered to encourage carpooling, as well as a portion of the proceeds from parking fees being donated to Breathe Utah, a clean air advocacy organization. There will also be added parking for up to 200 more vehicles on the west end of the Moonbeam parking lot in an attempt to ease congestion on Highway 190. Those spaces will be serviced by a shuttle to and from the Moonbeam Lodge. Full details on the new parking solutions are available at https://www.solitudemountain.com/transportation.For those looking to take advantage of carpooling to the mountain, Solitude is investing in a ride-sharing app to allow skiers/riders to either share space in their own car or find a ride with another car heading to the mountain. More details for this service will be available later in the fall.For those who would like to use mass transit, via the Utah Transit Authority (UTA), Solitude season pass holders have free access to the UTA Ski Bus for the entire season. Again, to encourage the use of the service, this offer has been extended to all Ikon Pass holders, as well. To ease in the use of mass transit, 100 new guest lockers have been added to both the Moonbeam Lodge and the Snowsports building.There will also be four 15-passenger shuttle vans leased from the UTA to transport staff seven days a week.